Changes for a Hare and Dormouse
by CrispyWolf
Summary: This takes place in between American McGee's Alice and it's sequel, Alice: Madness Returns. This is my interpretation of how the March Hare and Dormouse were freed, agreed to build the Infernal Train, and decided to get revenge on the Hatter.


It was dark and cold inside the torturous experimental room. The machines had mysteriously stopped long ago. That long ago, there was hope that the two main victims may be freed. However, that hope soon faded. There was nothing left for them but silence and loneliness now. No one came for them. No one helped them. The Hare and the Dormouse stood still, strapped to the dunking machine and dissection table, respectively, waiting for something to happen or someone to come for them.

Hatter never even came back. His defeat must have been the reason for the machines stopping. It must have been Alice who did it. It seemed like she was going to help them, but she never did. She never came back since Hare told her when the Hatter comes to check on them. Damn that girl! The Hare bet she had saved all of Wonderland by now. Yes, all of Wonderland except for them. They were trapped in the back of her mind, never to be saved or cared for. The Hare looked across the room at his sleeping friend. At least now he wouldn't be shocked by those awful lasers and woken up in pain.

Hare wished he could sleep like the Dormouse did. Dormy looked so peaceful, even with half his body gone and replace by incomplete robotic parts. For a second, Hare wondered what it'd be like if Dormy were complete and able to move. His thoughts than drifted back to wanting to sleep. As they did, the pins holding his eyelids open started to feel looser and looser until they finally dropped to the floor. As odd as this was, Hare thought nothing of it and closed his eyes, drifting off into a deep slumber. He felt happy he could at least sleep through his loneliness now.

A while later, Hare drempt that he was floating up into the sky, like an angel into Heaven. It took a minute or two for him to realize that he wasn't dreaming. He rocked his legs back and fourth in the air and moved his still organic right arm, his eyes still closed. He felt something gripping on his back. Realizing that he had been picked up, he opened his eyes to see a large, skinny, ugly face dead in front of him. Black goo was oozing from the face's empty eye sockets and mouth and his face looked like melted wax. Hare noticed the rest of the figure's body, leading his eyes to it's horribly nailed together hands, complete with pointy fingernails. The hand came at the Hare, removing his robotic leg. The Hare cringed at this.

"Wh-who are you? What are you doing?"

The face looked at the Hare while continuing to fix his body, adding better robotic legs, one made out of gears and the other sporting a spring. It finally spoke as it started removing the Hare's left robotic arm. "How's that for gratitude?" it said, it's voice sounding monstrous and distorted. "I'm trying to help you."

The Hare's eyes widened as he looked down at his new legs. "Help me?" He noticed his robotic arm had been replaced by a giant, sharp clock hand. He looked back at the face. "Thank you, but why are you helping me?" "Why are you questioning that which is good?" The creature added a metal plate to the top of the Hare's head and positioned a monocle that was attached to it in front of the Hare's eye. "I know what you've been through, Hare. I know who did this to you and made you suffer. I know that you've been waiting for a savior for so long. Well, all of that is about to change." The figure placed a finger beneath the Hare's chin and started stroking it. "All you need to do is follow my directions. I can help you extract vengeance on the Hatter. I can set you free from this misery you've been trapped into."

"What do I need to do?"

"Build me a train. Not just any train, a train made of turmoil. A destructive train. You must make it large and powerful."

"But why do you need a destructive train? What are you going to do with it?"

"I will use this train for the benefit of Wonderland. Hatter tried to take over Wonderland, correct? He tried to make everyone into his automatons for his own benefit. With this train, I will weaken Wonderland to allow for you to improve it. You can make it a better place. Make it fit what you'd define as the perfect world. I like you, Hare. You have much potential as a perfect leader."

The large figure placed the Hare back down on the floor of the lab. Hare took a deep breath as he felt his weight on his new robotic legs for the first time. He looked around the lab, at the still sleeping Dormouse, and then back up at the ceiling. "Wait, what about Dormy?" the Hare said. But the figure was gone. Hare looked back at the dissection table to see a set of wheels and mechanical parts lying in front of it.

"Test your mechanical skills."

Hare gulped as he heard the voice say this and looked at Dormy. He took a wrench and took the incomplete robotic legs attached to Dormy apart. He hesitatingly removed the clockwork parts that would not do any good. At some points he had to touch the mouse's organs. It made him shudder. He had to tear into Dormy's back to attach a gear to hold the clockwork parts in place. Several times, he apologized to Dormy, in fear that he was causing him pain or worse, killing him. Having only one hand didn't help. Sometimes Hare reached for something with his left arm only to find that he only had a blade attached instead of another hand. In his haste, he became too nervous and accidentally stabbed the little mouse in the right eye. "Dormy, no!" cried the hare. "Damn this stupid blade! Damn these stupid clockwork pieces! Dormy, I'm so sorry!" Tears formed in the hare's eyes as he watched blood flow out of Dormy's right eye. Hare hugged and caressed the mouse's body and sobbed. "I just wanted to help you..."

Hare closed his eyes, sniffled, and then opened his eyes again to see Dormy still breathing. Hare wiped his own eyes, pulled himself back together, and got back to work. He took out Dormy's no longer functioning right eye and replaced it with a red robotic eye. After wiping away all the blood from his eye sockets and being sure that the eye was okay, he continued to work at the bottom half. It was bloody on the inside, but Hare went further, hoping that Dormy wouldn't bleed out. Surprisingly, the mouse was still breathing and seemed to be okay.

When the Dormouse finally appeared finished, Hare took a few steps back and looked at him. Seemingly, it had been a success, but the hare wasn't convinced. He waited for his friend to wake up. All he needed was to see the mouse open his drowsy little eyes and lift his head. Just as he started to give up hope, he heard a yawn.

"Hare?"

Hare looked up at the sleepy mouse who was looking at him, confused. "Hare, where are we? Where is all the tea?" The Dormouse looked down at his new wheels and then around the lab. He noticed all the torture machines, the "You're Next" writing on the wall, and suddenly remembered all the screams in pain that once came from the Hare. "Did Hatter do this to us?" Dormy asked. Hare nodded. "Yes. Tell me, how do you feel?" Hare looked at his friend with concern as said friend tried to lift himself up. "I feel...ugh...I've been sleeping too long. My head hurts. Hatter's medicine didn't do any good, no sir. But other than that, I feel fine. I don't think I even felt it when I had wheels built onto me."

Hare couldn't help but smile as he lifted the Dormouse off the table and helped him onto his wheels. Then he remembered what he was supposed to do. "Dormy...How would you like to give Hatter his just desserts?" Dormy smiled. "You mean like revenge? Tehehe!"

"Aye, lad. Now come. We have a mission to complete."


End file.
